will review the convention speakers. of them how the mayor has prepared the city of charlotte for the convention. then the chamber of commerce of charlotte and the involvement of local business owners in the dnc. ♪ host: well, the democratic national convention kicks off today at 5:00 p.m. eastern time. first lady, michelle obama, and the mayor of san antonio are two of the featured speakers at the time warner cable a real not in an uptown charlotte. 400 alternates and 5900 delegates will be at the convention. 50% of the democratic delegates are women. here is the front page of "of

the charlotte observer" this morning. -- first page -- front page of "the charlotte observer" this morning. the convention kicks off in at 5:00 p.m. we will go over the schedule in just a few minutes. "voters in the second term undeserved, country is worse off." a belief that president obama does not deserve election according to a new poll. voters say that the nation is in worse condition now than it was in 2008. they say that obama does not deserve reelection. that is the top line of this poll. that seems to be a constant theme in this morning's papers.

are you better off? that is the question this morning for the first section of "of the washington journal." are you better off than you were four years ago? for democrats, 202-737-0001. for republicans, 202-737-0002. for independents, 202-628-0205. please allow 30 days between your calls. you can make a comment on our facebook page. you can make a comment on twitter, twitter.com/c-spanwj. and journal@c-span.org is our e- mail address. here is a little bit more from this brand new poll from "the hill." only 40% of voters said that obama deserves reelection.

the results highlight the depth of voter dissatisfaction. at this week's democratic national convention in charlotte, n.c., they strongly suggest the democrats need to convince voters that it is a choice between obama and mitt romney rather than a referendum on the president. that is from "the hill" newspaper, in case you are interested in reading that for yourself. "the new york times," democrats say that the u.s. is better off than four years ago. the obama campaign provided a response on monday that hammered home the message at the democratic convention, absolutely.

host: that is just a little bit from "the new york times" article this morning. to give you a preview of what is going to happen at the convention again, it kicks off a 5:00 p.m.

our coverage will begin at 4:00 p.m. with a pre-convention preview show. with brad woodhouse of the democratic national committee. he will be one of the two guests on the program. at 5:00 p.m., here are some of the featured speakers -- featured speakers. debbie wasserman schultz, stanley hoyer -- steny hoyer, the governor of north carolina, beverly perdue, as well as the governor of illinois. our guest later on this program will also be speaking, along with jimmy carter, and joe kennedy iii. that is all at 7:00 p.m. at 8:00 p.m. the president of

naro along with tammy duckworth , and lincoln cheney, as well as james cliburn, the former majority whip in the house. a longtime member in south carolina. at 9:00 p.m., ted strickland, the former governor of ohio, along with kathleen sebelius, and mayor rohm emmanuel of chicago, along with duval patrick of massachusetts. at 10:00 p.m., governor martin o'malley of maryland, castromayr julian castro, and first lady michelle obama will be speaking. we will begin with a democrat from houston this morning.

caller: good morning. thank you for c-span. i am very pleased with obama. i am much better off than i was four years ago. you betcha. i have a laundry list of why i think he is better. i will tell you one of them, health care. he promised and delivered on osama bin laden, which makes me feel very safe in the country. the auto industry was saved. all of the things that are important to me as a mother, with health care, and i am making -- cancer patient. he is not going to throw me a voucher, like paul ryan wants to do. i am thrilled with president obama and am volunteering for his campaign every day. host: bob, republican, maine. are you better off? caller: about the same.

but i think that this distribution problem in the country has meant that the recession has gotten deeper. i think that the country, with its great deal of job loss during the recession, until the economy improves, i do not think we will be better. i have to speak another point, the disenfranchisement that the current -- with the current republican convention. i am a current supporter of ron paul, as many people were. he was treated shabbily. i am really resentful of mitt romney and a lot of the people -- as are a lot of the people who were supporters of ron paul. host: where does that leave you in november? caller: certainly not voting for mitt romney and his political hacks. i probably will be voting for

obama. host: that was bought in spanish, maine, calling on the republican line. here is a little bit more of what was said yesterday by president obama. [video clip] >> we were not going to let your communities go bankrupt. i have served with american workers, with american manufacturing. i believe in you, i'd bet on you, i will make that that any day of the week. three years later it is paying off for america. [applause] [cheers] three years later, the american auto industry has come roaring back. 350,000 new jobs.

it was funny watching governor romney and governor kasich, others, trying to rewrite history now you are back on your feet. these other folks who said that if we went forward with our plan, and i am quoting here, you can kiss the american automotive industry to buy. now they're saying it was their idea all along. [laughter] host: here are the comments from our facebook page. are you better off than you were four years ago? host:

host: next call on whether or not you are better off than you were four years ago, kevin, riverside, california. caller: i am definitely better off. to correct bob, maine, we are not in a recession, so we have to clear up what is going on here. barack obama has all the right trends going in the right direction. a good person. not one with of scandal. -- whiff of scandal. he has never lied to us. i could not qualify for health care four years ago. i got a refund from my insurance company this time and i now have coverage. so, i do not understand how anyone would want to take steps backward with it ryan -- mitt romney and paul ryan. host: thank you for calling in.

gregg, a democrat, silver spring, maryland. caller: good morning, sir. let me begin first with obama. i really enjoyed his tonality in so far as his yelling during the speech, which creates interest. other things that create interest, all of the trading -- tweeting that has happened, basically. what i feel that we should talk about is how much better, i am looking forward, as the obama campaign calls that, i feel populism, and i want everyone to be popular with a popular votes, that includes politicians who are charming. there is a bit of charm with popular voting and being the

first politician to rest the public to be more populist in their populist vote. host: here is the lead editorial from "usa today." "bad economy could be fatal for president seeking reelection."

host: that is "usa today" this morning. our next call comes from the republican line in san diego. caller: i am much worse off. four years ago i was working. now i am unemployed. i think that what happened in 2010 was the harbinger of things to come for 2012. republicans made great gains in 2010 and we will slam in 2012. it is not going to be close. the biggest question that i have is that since african-americans do not take things sitting down, we will have civil unrest in all 50 states, i am sure, when obama loses. it is going to be bloody, i guarantee it. host: our next call comes from texas.

mr. and mrs. peterson? caller: hello. host: good morning, how are you? i was wondering where you all went. caller: i said -- i bet that peter is wondering where we went. my wife got through this morning and i could not believe it. i was shocked. host: all right. i hope that you have a -- hope you had a good summer. four years ago, are you better off? caller tell you that. next month i will have my new car paid for after five long years. i will own my car, blessed gods sold. host: well, congratulations on that. caller: social security and medicare, between them we will have it made. host: who would you vote for, if the election were held today?

caller: obama again, i think. we will be voting for him again and give him another chance at it. host: i am glad you had a good summer and look forward to talking to you again. thanks for calling. bye-bye. front page of "the new york times" this morning, "democrats reunite against gop threat."

host: flint, michigan. troy, are you with us? apologize. try again. go ahead, please. caller: yes, i am retired. i really think i am doing better off with obama. mitt romney this from michigan and he threw the uaw under the bus. we should have nothing to do with voting for him. we should throw him under the bus, just like he did to us. his father was the governor here. and the way that he threw michigan under the bus, you know?

i could not support him either way. he is just hanging out in the wind and i hope the people of michigan do not vote for him. host: that was troy in flint, michigan. this article -- "post -- hispanic obama, ready for the big stage." julian castro might seem an odd choice to deliver the signature address on tuesday night.

host: again, "the wall street journal" this morning. brett, bstol, va., are you better off? republican line. caller: i can even go look for a job. i cannot take my son nowhere. i cannot do anything because of gas prices. obama has ruined this country. you guys just do not get it out there. all you want is free stuff. obama might be something free, but later down the road someone has to pay for it. health care, no matter what it is. we all have to pay. obama should not be reelected. mitt romney is the future. he can do it. vote for him, give him a chance. we gave obama a chance. host: if you want to send a clear message, go to twitter.com/c-spanwj.

here are some of the ones we are receiving. and host: that is our washington journal twitter feed, twitter.com/c-spanwj. if you would like to read the comments throughout the day and throughout the convention, you can go to #cspandnc. you will be able to make any kind of comments there, they are on their 24/7. you will see a big picture of the time warner cable a rena, that is where the democratic national convention is.

that is our democratic national convention hub. you will find delegate tweets. you will also find video the we have been shooting down in charlotte of the events we have been covering, and, of course, gavel-to-gavel coverage of the convention itself. is an interactive site. there is a lot of stuff there that is not on c-span tv, necessarily. orlando, florida. ashley, independent line. are you better off? caller: i am a libertarian and i am warsaw. first of all, four years is a long time that obama has had and all he has done is undermine the constitution, with the mdaa, tarp bailout, and socialist policies. i am 24 years of age and just

got my social security statement. i have paid almost $10,000 in to social security -- social security. i will get none of that back, if changes are not made. i should have to -- i should have ways to opt out of paying that tax. our money is going down the drain. we have no options. no options for our future. we have been led to believe that there is this two party system and i have only two choices. who am i voting for? not mitt romney, and i am not voting for a socialist to does not agree with the constitution and will not stand up and defend the flag against domestic and foreign terrorists. i will be riding high and ron paul in my state or voting for gary johnson until the media, c-

span, and everyone else such a acknowledging the fact that we have more than two choices. the two party system is a sham. i am married to a black man, addressing the previous caller, who is not just looking at every policy and candidate -- black americans look at the policies that obama is taxing. the taxes will go up. nothing is free in this world and i think that the black people, if they research, would stick with the constitution party. they have a lot to offer to people who have been misled and to have been with the democratic party. host: what do you do in orlando? caller: i am a law student working in a private college. i have a lot of opinions about things like financial aid as well, things that need reform.

we are both kind of grassroots activists here. campaign for liberty. we do try to spread the message to people. host: did you go down to tampa to join the protests down there? caller: i did. go to you too, look up rnc teleprompter. they took -- this will happen at the democratic convention as well -- people who are running in all of these parties, republicans put the roll call vote on the teleprompter. half of them said yes, half of them said no to pass the role that would limit the grass roots. the teleprompter already had the yes vote on there. ron paul had a really smart campaign. young people are starting to wake up, young people like myself. i was only 20 of the time.

i can say that without knowing what i know now about how the government operates, and i wish i could have taken it back and voted for ron paul at the time. host: thank you for calling in this morning. ashley mentioned gary johnson, the presidential candidate for the libertarian party. booktv conducted an interview with gary johnson in july about his book. you can watch that and booktv.org. just type his name into the search function in the upper left-hand corner. from "politico" this morning, " not disappointed."

host: yesterday, paul ryan was campaigning at east carolina university in north carolina. here is a little bit of what he had to say. [video clip] >> we will not try to transform this country into something that it was not intended to be. we will reapply our founding principles that make us who we are. [applause]

this is a defining moment. the president cannot tell you that you are better off. and if we want to improve things, how would bringing back the same administration accomplish that? it would not. friends, north carolina is crucial. eastern north carolina is crucial. this is one of those kinds of elections where a handful of states will make the determination. not necessarily to your next governor or president is going to be, but what kind of land your kids will inherit. host: from " new york post" this morning -- from "the the new york post" this morning -- "pole position." host: meanwhile

host: that is from "the charlotte observer." penelope, republican, san antonio, texas. first of all, your mayor is speaking tonight. what do you think about that? then go on to our question. caller: when i think about the mayor speaking, i think that he is probably going to be talking about how he wants to invest in education, which around here means to put a tax on people to put 4-year-old in pre-k at with direct competition with head start. why do we need two of these programs? except that everyone who comes in seems to have some sort of projects that they need to have to make their name. as far as the country being better off, i think that it

cannot be. everyone seems to be looking at this very shortsighted short term. you may be better off today, i may be better off today, the neighbor may be better off. but somebody, some time, is going to shut off credit. when that happens comic it is going to be ugly. there was some idiot talking earlier about riots over the vote. that is not. but when the money runs out and all of these people who have not worked and to have not saved have no idea how to do anything for themselves but go to the post office to pick up their money, it is going to be a very horrible thing. i am just not looking forward to it. you cannot continually spend money that you do not have. host: that was penelope, a san

antonio, texas. jack, independent line. hello. caller: pleasure to talk to you. hope that you will give me enough time here. i have a point to make. i am about the same off, actually, except maybe a little poorer. i just bought a big boat, which will always make you poorer. i wanted to comment about a caller who complained about a person who called herself linda, and, or sue. linda is spanish for pretty. we will call her pretty little and a suit. she called in seven times in this last month. what that caller has to understand is that annie sue is special. she is a right-wing religious republican, so she talks to god

and knows the mind of god, and if so facto knows everything and has all values, except perhaps the values of the veracity. she, unfortunately, like chris or joe, who called in from georgia or south carolina, has the right to call in because they are special. here is the problem that i have. i like c-span, even though i am to the left of center and c-span is obviously the right of center. i know that you can see who calls in. you have a way of seeing, because it is obvious i had not called in for three months and the screener knew that. i do not want to get the screen or in trouble, she is a nice young person, but if you can see who calls in and what their frequency is, how does it happen

that pretty little annie sue got to call in seven times? host: let's not dwell on this and go back to policy questions. i guarantee that if her same number pop up every time, it would be obvious to us who was calling in. but if someone used a different number, there is nothing that we can do about it at that point except voice recognition on our part. thank you, jack, for all of that information and analysis. democratic line, louis, missouri. steve, are you better off? caller: yes. i say that because i understand what happened in 2008 with the financial crisis. not completely, but here is my analogy. if you will indulge me. in 2008, september 2008, under

president bush it was like we had this seismic event in the middle of the ocean that was ranked category 10. but nothing that happened, none of the results of that financial devastation actually started to hit americans for the general public until after president obama took office. that is when mortgages started to be foreclosed upon. that is when people started losing their jobs. this is what he walked into when he top office. i think that a lot of people are blaming him for not being able to stop those tidal waves of personal financial devastation that were caused in 2008.

so, my concern with people who are saying that he has not done enough, i have to wonder, on a personal level, if you had a debt and a crisis of that magnitude in your personal life, and that you would be able to recover completely in three years. but if you had made the progress that he had made in this country in three years, you would be breathing a lot easier. host: we will leave it there. thank you for calling in. the front page of "the denver post" this weekend. "democrats unite in an effort to unseat -- defeat conservative agenda. another headline, the orange

county register -- "of the orange county register," "time to take the stage." "journal, constitution," " democrats tried to make inroads in the south." that is the tenor of their article this morning. george is a republican from bloomington, illinois. are you better off than four years ago? caller: i am personally better off, but that is attributable to circumstances peculiar to myself and not to president obama. thank you for inquiring. i would like to respond to one of your callers for quite some time ago from california, who said that there has not been a whiff of scandal concerning this current obama

administration. that is patently not true, as everyone who has been reading the news at all those. the old phrase, even the slightly informed have heard of solyndra by now. that is one of a group of similar scandals that has received light coverage from the literal -- liberal press. so, that is just not true. i would also like to comment that the defacto president of the united states put an article this weekend in "the new york times" about how she is running the president. host: what kind of work do you do in bloomington?

caller: a solo practicing lawyer. i am concerned for my children. i would like to see that president obama is going to lead this country. host: that is george, from bloomington, illinois. did you vote for senator obama when he was running? caller: for the u.s. senate? host: yes, sir. caller come now, i voted for his opponent, who got only roughly 20% of the vote. in years gone by, a republican senator would have done better, but many liberal republicans voted for senator obama in that election. i attended a fund-raiser at a local restaurant for his opponent and i met him. i wrote him a small check. but he only received about 27% of the vote, although he is a

brilliant lawyer and former ambassador to the united nations. host: all right, thank you for calling in this morning. by the way, every morning this week, politico is sponsoring what they're calling a playbook breakfast. that is being held in charlotte at packard place. that is the name of the restaurant. we will be bringing that to you live. this morning, and valerie jarrett is there newsmaker guest. that will be coming up this morning at 7:55 a.m. eastern time, valerie jarrett with the folks from "politico." a couple of more facebook comments. are you better off than you were four years ago?

host: maria, are you better off than you were four years ago? caller: i am now paying for more taxes than before. after that, i voted for obama and it took me out.

they started talking about race. black people and white people. and i decided not to go through it. i saw a woman who voted for obama and he did not do nothing for the black people. nothing for the spanish. excuse me [unintelligible] host: that was maria, from puerto rico. here is the front page of "the

los angeles times" this morning. richmond, california. wanda, are you better off than you were four years ago? >> definitely i am a better off than i was four years ago. let me just explain, my friend, i am losing my train of thought, but mentioned it was a republican who mentioned he was not better off. now i cannot think of the things that he said. going back to my own, obama has not been there for four years. and they wanted to make him a

one-term presidents to get us out of the situation we are in. however, president obama has done an excellent job. and he cannot be all things to all people. i love this president. even if he was a white democrat during the same thing, i would love that president. however, he does need people that will work for him. retry is, bending over backwards, to work with republicans. he worked with them before he came to work with his own party. he brought them to the white house. a lot of them did not want to come. everything they wanted to do, but they said no way. then they flip the switch. everything that they did, they

blamed it on him. america? if you want your social security, if you want your medicare, if you want medicaid, i truly believe that you had better rethink elias. these people in the republican party blast lies. mostly half truths. no, everything they have said has been a complete lie. i mean a complete lie. something that i wish you would do is look at abc news today. paul ryan made statements yesterday about being better off, talking about how jimmy carter was the last one, but they have refuted even those lives. i wish that these republicans, before they come out with their

talking points, would check their facts. host: richmond, california this morning. here in this side story, "patrick may make the mark." democrats stressing protection for middle-class." "this is "-- this is the "globe and mail." host: that is out of toronto this morning. finally, "the chicago tribune looks at their home town native

this morning -- tribune" looks at their home town native this morning. david, are you better off than four years ago? caller: not only am i unemployed, they have tried to strip us of our second amendment rights with fiasco called the fast and furious. not only do they support the efforts to murder more and more children for a political agenda, now they expect us to pay for our own birth control that they could afford themselves? they are out to destroy our domestic oil energy business. so that they can give it to

their foreign friends, giving special tax dollars to green jobs. the list goes on, and on, and on. host: we mentioned that michelle obama will be the final speaker tonight. beginning in early 2013, c-span has a new series. regular viewers know that we have done "and american president" and "contenders." this time around, we are doing a series of first ladies. here is a preview. ♪ [video clip] >> if we turn away from the

needs of others, we align ourselves with those forces which are bringing about this suffering. >> and you ought to take the advantage of it. >> obesity in this country is nothing short of a public health crisis. >> when someone has their own agenda. >> it would be a shame to waste it. >> i think that they serve as a window on the past to what was going on with american women. >> she becomes the confidante. she is really the only one in the world he can trust. >> many of these women who were first ladies were writers. >> in many cases they are quite frankly more interesting as human beings than their husbands, if only because they

are not first and foremost defined and limited by political ambition. >> socially adept and politically savvy. >> dolly madison loved every minute of it. >> you cannot rule without including what women want and what women have to contribute. >> there was too much looking down. i think it was too fast. not enough change of pace. >> they never shared the marriage. >> she wrote in her memoir that she herself never made any decisions, that she only decided what was important and when to present it to my husband. when you think about how much power that is, it is a lot.

>> prior to the battle against -- part of the battle against cancer is to fight the fear that accompanies the disease. >> she transformed the way that we looked at these bugaboos and made it possible for countless people to survive and flourish as a result. i do not know how many presidents, realistically, had that kind of impact on how we live our lives. >> just walking around the grounds, i am constantly reminded about all the people who have lived there before, particularly all the women. >> first ladies, influence and image. a new series on c-span produced in cooperation with the white house historical association, coming in february, 2013.

>> one of the speakers tonight at the democratic national convention is rohm emmanuel. the story has him returning home early after his speech because of this issue. "do you hear us? " this is about the teachers' strike in chicago. derrick, good morning to you. are you better off than you were four years ago? caller code yes. this is my first time calling in. thank you for the amount of time the you give your callers. hopefully you will give me the same amount of respect that you give to republicans. republicans have been known to be some of the least informed voters out there. you had one republican calling in to blame obama for the gas

prices. another call in to say that cilantro was a money scam. that is incorrect. this is an attempt to expand our resources and all that good stuff. you had one younger caller call in who was in school, voting against obama. the new have another caller calling in the, wanting to blame obama for everything has not done. the republicans have broken records this year and last year for the amount of filibuster's they have had against obama and things he is trying to submit. creating 2 million jobs they decided to vote against. make sure the you do your research and do not get everything the you know from fox news. that is where this thing comes from. that is where the facts have been left out.

paul ryan is even lying about how many times he ran a marathon. what you think he has in store for this country? >> why are you better off this year? >> you had two people calling in voting republican, unemployed, and they're the ones trying to stop unemployment. host: ray, democratic line, pittsburgh, pennsylvania. caller fell i will make my call will show up -- real short. i do not know why people do not understand that the president inherited these troubles. at the same time, the president is trying to work with congress. it is congress that allowed us to go under. it is congress that allowed wall street to take over. congress is a bunch of rich men

that want control of the country. there will not do anything for the working class. and yet they want to promise you this. all they are doing is feeding your ear. that is my comment for the day. host: front page of " washington times" this morning. -- of "of the washington times" this morning -- of "the washington times" this morning. "john martin, wanting to support republicans." "mitt romney is doing nothing -- nothing to keep his loyalty of republicans.

host: coming up, this is an extended "washington journal." we will be bringing you the morning briefing from "national journal." that is coming up in just maybe half of an hour or so. susan will be in our charlotte studio, speaking with the mayor of charlotte as well, anthony fox. bob morgan is the president of the chamber of commerce, who will -- who will as well be our guest. coming up shortly, the morning briefing from packard place.

valerie jarrett will be the newsmaker guest in a few minutes as we continue to take your calls this morning. new york city, are you better off than you were? caller: i am not better off. i had to lay off all of my best employees to pay for the grants. we are worse than with jimmy carter. and i lowered my mortgage to 9%. all presidents are guilty for the price of gas because they do not exploit the natural gas is

that we have. in the united states, with the unemployment we have in arkansas and california together. host: what kind of business to you own? caller: i am a consultant. i get the call when they are in trouble. host: danny, texas. good morning. are you better off than you were four years ago? caller: that is kind of hypothetical. i have started my plumbing business. i got my master plumbers license f -- five years ago.

i hired two more. i had three people on the payroll. i have let all but one of them go. i was hiring to people and three people as needed. now i am down to one full-time employee. i have hired one as needed. i am doing the bookwork myself. my secretary had been helping me two days out of the week. new construction not being there, that was one of the lead models for people. i am holding my own, but it is hurting the family that i had working for me. why has nothing on the father's dream book come out?

why have all the major radio stations and television stations not stated any of this information? that is what i have for you. host: danny, texas. here is the front page of "the washington post" this morning. here is a picture from some of the celebrants down in charlotte. right below that story is the associate editor of the washington post and his take on bill clinton, who will be giving the nominating speech tomorrow at the convention. here is a little bit of what he writes about bill clinton and barack obama.

host: he has written biographies of bill clinton and paul was one on barack obama, as well. gwen a democrat from ohio. turn down the volume of your tv and tell us if you're better off now than you were four years

ago. we have to move on. fred from alabama. are you better off? caller: i am not better off. it is almost like you had somebody who is not run a small business running a country. you have to be liquid as a country. people have to be able to build. we cannot do these if we don't have capital to do these. host: the breakfast is beginning. here is mike allen. >> we will hear from chris, who was been to many democratic conventions. a co-writer and we'll have some clips. triple'll finish up the

header with the executive director of the democratic senatorial committee. how much of a chance democrats have in keeping the senate. i like to thank "the charlotte observer." i want to welcome c-span 8.wers, news channel we have a story about mrs. obama, who is speaking tonight. ?"ho'll stop the rain make sure the president can speak outside of thursday night. i would like to thank bank of america. jim is going to welcome

us. >> on behalf of our strategy officer who is here with us this morning, i want to welcome everybody to charlotte. it is great to be here in our headquarters city. we have 250,000 employees around the world. over the last three years, bank of america has lent over $2 trillion and given away over $600 million in a philanthropic support to help our economy grow and to recover. as our recovery continues, bank of america will continue to play our part. we are thrilled to be partnering with politico.

we're proud of this partnership and happy to be here this morning. >> thank you very much. we're honored to welcome valerie jarrett, the single most influential person in the obama white house, as it was written. >> good morning. >> thank you for coming out so early. you have a special guest arriving. >> the first lady. >> i was thinking of your mom. >> my mother, my daughter, my new son-in-law are all are arriving today. >> mom is 83 and her first convention. >> she has a pretty good seat.

anyou're telling me about experience you had in virginia last week. >> i was traveling around the state and had some round tables with women that were undecided. i wanted to move them to the decided column. they were hungry for a conversation about why the president is fighting for women. the president believes in a woman's right to choose. he has been fighting to get the vice president to come back and domestic violence. and the president has fought so hard to get the economy back and moving in the right direction. i saw how their stories

resonated with what the president is trying to do. we will be busy for the next several weeks. the stakes in this election are very high. as a mother and son but looking forward to being a grandmother one day, it is important -- not right now but someday soon. it is important that my grandchildren inherit a country that is moving in a positive direction with a strong middle class. it is important to grow our middle class and the top down economics the other side is proposing is not work. in. all an

havingooking forward to a discussion with the american people and the roadmap for the future. we hope it will crystallize the choice before the american people. two different philosophies on how to move our country forward. this resonates broadly and people will vote for him. >> the first lady is speaking tonight. there's a story in "politico" talking how she'll be making a positive case. >> i think the first lady will set forth why her husband deserves a second chance. she will talk about the part of the president that she sees. she sees him at the end of the day when he is pouring over the letters he receives every night

and he is talking about his vision and the decisions he has had to make and why it is so important that he be reelected. she does it in a way that is personal and that will connect broadly with so many americans out there. >> what will the president's speech be like thursday night? >> he will talk about moving the country forward and giving a clear road map for the road ahead. we have a lot of hard work to do. there are too many americans that need jobs. the president will be specific about the work that is left to do. >> the republicans were not so specific. people have asked what this

president will do in a second term. how clear is a second term to you? what will be done? what will we be checking off in two or three years? >> we still need to move our economy forward and continue investing in education. it has been important that the president -- the president and first lady just finished paying off their student loans eigih s ago.r there were trying to decide, could they afford it, because they had so much student that. he advocated so strong that the

interest rates did not double on student loans. >> what was your first encounter with the president? >> i was recruiting the first lady. i was no longer interviewing her. she was interviewing me. she said, would you mind meeting my fiancee? "we're making this decision together. i want to give back and make sure this is the best way to do wit." i still remember that dinner is vividly. i remember the respect and love they had. i remember the way the president listened to her and to me.

and so i was impressed at how thoughtful they were, how consumed they were about doing something where they added value. >> tell us something about president obama that we do not know. >> the person that you see before the cameras is the same person that we see behind the scenes. there were staff meetings and some of the staff that did not know him would say, i heard him say this but what did he really mean? they were used to people in washington not saying what they mean. the person you see out there is the same person. he will meet somebody for a moment and somebody will say something that he will follow-

up with the person and ask, are we doing everything we can? "make sure you put them in touch so that we can provide them access to capital." he cares about each of the individuals that he meets. >> take us behind the scenes. how does he run the west wing? >> he has a strong and effective management style. he is interested in bringing together a diverse group of people who have different perspectives. he listens and pushes the person in the room with whom he disagrees the most. he wants to make sure he is thinking through his decisions. his decisions often are life and death decisions. he wants to make sure he is

making them in the most thoughtful way. he makes a decision and moves on. >> you were friends with the president and first lady long before they were in the public eye. you see them in a way no one else does. >> he has certainly grown in office. those core values, his character, integrity, moral compass pointing towards true north. he wakes up every morning thinking about you. focusing on how to move our country forward. that has not changed. his confidence in office has grown. he is proud of his record.

>> he jokes a lot about the gray hair. >> mine is not that funny. >> it does weigh on him. >> it is 824-hour a day job -- it is a 24-hour a day job. >> how was he adjusted to this new life? >> it is and incredible amount of responsibility. he is still a normal human being. he likes to laugh. he has dinner every evening with the first lady and sasha amaland malia. they are not interested in what happened in the oval office.

they want to talk about what is happening in school. that is him the balance that he needs. >> all indications are that they are incredible parents. the young ladies have turned out to be normal. >> the president is the first lady an enormous amount of credit for that. his father abandoned him at an early age. he made up his mind that he would be a far better father then he had. he looks to the first by the's father -- he looks to the first lady's father as a role model. the first lady and her brother received generous scholarships

to go to college. it was so important to him to contribute. he showed up. he listened to his children. he worked very hard to live up to the kind of father at the first lady was lucky to have. we will continue to reach out to businesses around our country and make sure -- the long term economic success of our country rests with the private sector. that is where the growth and the jobs come from. figuring out what more we can do to create that kind of environment and that is why we invest in education. businesses need a workforce to compete in the united states and the global workforce. we want to make sure they have that work force.

we want to train people for the jobs of tomorrow. science, technology, engineering, and and this is to get young girls involved in those subjects so they can participate in the growth industries of tomorrow. there is so much we can do. >> you began this amazing adventure and you were the clear underdogs. >> we are used to being the underdog. we fight like we are when we are not. you cannot take anything for granted. the stakes are so high. the president will be fighting hard to earn the confidence of the american people. >> how was this convention different from denver in 2008?

>> the president has a robust track record. keep in mind what happened not long after the convention. our country lost four million jobs. we have created over 4.5 million jobs. we were still in the war in iraq. the president committed to end that war and we have done that. the president repealed don't ask, don't tell. i could go on for another 20 minutes. >> you tell me that you saw clips of the republic convention joe."orning sho what did you think of the gop

convention from what you saw? >> it seems your goal should be focusing on your roadmap for the future. the president is focusing on the american people and what he can do to build a strong middle class. it is an optimistic vision. we think this week will crystallize the choice we have before us. i hope people will say the president should continue on. >> you have spent four years in washington. do you feel like a washingtonian or a chicago an? >> i have met a lot of nice people in washington. >> thank you for joining us. host: that was valerie jarrett speaking with mike allen of

"politico." that is held in downtown charlotte. there is a live view of the inside of the time warner cable arena where the convention will begin at 5:00 p.m. eastern time. our preview program will begin at 4:00 p.m. eastern time. we'll be live on and off all day long and beginning at 4:00 p.m., gavel to gavel coverage, live coverage here on c-span. our studio is a couple of blocks away. susan ferrechio, the chief congressional correspondent will give us a preview of today's convention and to take your calls. susan ferrechio, what is the mood among the delegates in charlotte right now?

guest: good morning. a lot of folks are excited to be here and are anticipating a great speech by the president on thursday. they are looking forward to hearing bill clinton speak on wednesday. the first lady will speak in the convention center on tuesday night. everybody is excited about the lineup of speakers and they are happy to get here, get people out and register people to vote. there was a big festival where you had tons and tons of obama volunteers spanning out and talking to people about the issues and registering them to vote. just to hear what the president will lay out for his agenda. host: review in tampa -- were

you in tampa? guest: the mood is different. you can look at this convention and think back four years ago. i think the republicans felt far more optimistic about their chances of winning than they did four years ago. right now you have a democratic incumbent who is somewhat embattled because of the economy. and because he is the incumbent and all the responsibility and everything falls on his shoulder. it is not the same level of enthusiasm. there is appreciation from delegates for barack obama. you don't have people grumbling when they talk about the president.

people were saying they think four more years will bring about the improvements in the economy if people would just stick with him. host: is there any business left to be done in the convention? guest: there is business left to be done here. it is a foregone conclusion that the president is the nominee. he went through the primary process as the sole viable democratic candidate and he will be nominated for the ticket this week and he will accept it, we anticipate, and deliver an acceptance speech that will probably lay out his case to the american people as to why they should give him another term. we will find out what the democratic party stands for.

most likely they will ratify it and lay out the rules for the upcoming elections going forward. there is a definite business to be done. a lot of it doesn't get the same level of attention as the nomination of the president and the vice president. host: is there any republican presence in charlotte? guest: yes, there is. reince priebus is here and he has been speaking to reporters, just as debbie wasserman schultz did when she arrived in tampa last week. it is if an expression what the parties do when each is holding

their conventions. you have republicans doing rocketing -- racketing here in charlotte and the vice presidential nominee is traveling around the country to keep swing states denouncing the democratic party and their agenda. mitt romney is in vermont preparing for the upcoming debates. i think you'll have the democratic message loud and clear throughout the convention, which is a little bit of a break from the past. we will be hearing from the republicans this week. host: there is a big article in the style section of "the washington post." what should we expect from michelle obama tonight? guest: you can draw the

comparison to the republican national convention. ann romney very much played a role in humanizing mitt romney. the governor was talking about her as the silver bullet. she is able to bring home in terms of relating to her husband. michelle obama can talk about the president as a human being, as a father, as a husband who has flaws. she did that from the beginning. obama made us into a celebrity and people just loved him. for some democrats, he seemed like a rock star. she can talk about him as someone with human qualities to

try to humanize him. tonight i think you'll see less of that and more of an advocate of the things that he has done. she speaks fluently about those things. she will talk about his accomplishments. she will tout his accomplishments and promote what he will do going forward. he is already familiar to voters. host: we were showing video of michelle obama torrent the podium at the arena in charlotte -- touring the podium at the arena in charlotte. we will put the numbers back on the screen in case you want to talk with our guest from "the washington examiner."

are you better off than you were four years ago -- is that the topic of conversation? guest: from the delegates? no. this is the opening day of the convention. i did a little bit of reporting. whether they felt that we were better off than we were four years ago. a lot of people who talk to me felt that he had inherited a lot of the problems and that things were improving and that if he were given another quarter years, things would continue to improve more so than if a republican candidate was elected. i've heard people tell me that they think he should have done things sooner and faster when he

was president and the senate and house were in democratic control and that president obama should have moved more aggressively. i have not heard a lot of people complained about the stimulus. people walk route what buttons that say "i love obamacare." they are embracing the affordable care act. there is still a lot of things that president obama has done among the democrats that are here. host: here are the democratic delegates by the numbers. this is by "politico."

host: the oldest delegate was born in 1914. the youngest delegate was born in 1994. he will be 18 by election day. susan ferrechio, have you had a chance to meet the one that was born in 1914? guest: i will try to interview them. i think that is fascinating. you wonder how long she has been a delegate. it would be an interesting interview.

host: built on our democrats -- bill on our democrats line. susan ferrechio is our guest. caller: the republicans did a good job of making mr. romney more likeable. i have a problem buying all that because he will not release his taxes. he will not release his taxes. i had to release my taxes to get my job. what does and he looked down the line -- there is a schedule for the democratic convention. i know how -- i have a lot of

respect and i feel more or comfortable with his opinion and with what the president is doing on foreign affairs. i am a registered republican. do you think the psident will win soundly this year? the republicans could moderate to the center. host: susan ferrechio? guest: i believe the caller was asking if it is possible whether the republicans would move more towards the center to work with president obama if he won a second term. it is a funny equation how congress becomes moderate and right now it is polarizing congress.

it is as polarized as many people have seen it. if the president wins a second term and the house and the senate become republican, you will see gridlock and people trying to get the white house in 2016. it will be very political. i did not anticipate people moving towards the middle. people who are a little further to the right are being elected amongst the republicans and for the to the left among democrats. that is how have both sides being philosophically so far apart. host: we have a tweet for you, susan ferrechio.

guest: right. that is a great question. the most important thing that the democrats have to do is convince voters that they are still the best stewards of the e connolly -- of the economy moving forward. people do not have confidence in this administration for fixing the economy and the economy is what is bothering people the most. he needs to say, "i can fix this," and he needs to convince people. he cannot just come up on stage on thursday and have his surrogates, up and blame president bush. that is not going to sell. people still blame bush.

people want to note that this president can be the one going forward to fix the economy. that is his number one priority. host: mary from kentucky. you're on c-span with susan ferrechio. caller: good morning, peter and thank you for taking my call. i have learned more from this station then i have ever learned through schooling or history. this is a fantastic show. i wish it was an all-day call-in show. president obama will have to explain a lot and it knocked off the inheritance bit. he fought for it. he was out there doing his thing. i have nothing against the man.

he is very charismatic and likable. i think he is like one of my kids as a teenager. they can slide for a little bit until the end up in a wreck. "maybe i do not know everything ." why does he have bill clinton standing up there talking for him, who is the only president in history that has ever lied and been caught in a lie and condemned for a lie? host: susan ferrechio? guest: president clinton is hugely popular in his party. he is a much beloved figure hhe.

he is different and barack obama but bill clinton is the head emeritus of the party and he is popular. he is a great speaker. he rivals barack obama in his ability to excite a crowd. it is talented in articulating things. he may be able to talk about why barack obama's policies were good for the country and negate the message that the republicans are putting out, that his policies have been bad for the country. that is why they are using somebody like bill clinton to give this important address. president clinton likes to talk about his own legacy and there is some fear he may overshadow

obama, much the way some of the speeches at the rnc did for mitt romney. clinton is there because he can excite the base and the type of moderate democrats and independent voter that the democrats need if they are going to when bank a second term for president obama. host: president clinton will be giving the nominating speech. elizabeth warren will speaking that same night along with the roll call of states. gavel-to-gavel coverage on c- span tv and c-span.org. dave in michigan, please go ahead.

caller: i have a different view than the last caller. i wonder why statistics do not matter. i'm talking about the statistics that this administration was left. there was a record job loss, record deficits, two on going wars. the media makes it like, you are blaming bush. this is reality. the gop is taking the strategy that we can probably win back the executive office. senator mcconnell said his number-one priority was not the record job loss but to block this president. why is that a bad thing in the

media? these are statistics. guest: there has been a lot of talk about how responsible president bush is for our current state economically. there have been some interesting poll numbers that show americans still hold him responsible, more so than president obama for the way things are now. it has been some years since he was president. there is talk about it. you hear the republicans are not working with the democrats. the political philosophies of both parties are far apart. there are few areas where they compromise. the democrats don't want to do something that the republicans are not willing to say yes to, and vice cersa

versa. republicans are not willing to raise revenues through taxes for the most part, and democrats are not willing to cut spending. each side is not giving in. that is why you have the kind of fighting and lack of cooperation that you see right now. the president can control that message and make it look like republicans are not cooperating. for republicans, their view is it is the democrats that are not cooperating. host: this tweet from sasha. guest: in the democratic convention?

that is a great question. i have no doubt that you will hear people talk about what the president inherited when he took office in 2009. people will talk about the things that republicans did prior to barack obama's presidency that created the problems that in their view the president has helped to fix. the financial crisis that preceded the recession. democrats feel they helped resolve the problem through major legislation to reform the banking industry. you will likely hear them teout that this week. that will play a bigger role in what they feel the republicans are responsible for and how democrats put legislation in

place to help improve it and they will promote the things they have done to make america better. the affordable care act will play a major force in how it will help people. host: susan ferrechio spent several years covering house and democratic leadership. she has also reported for "the miami herald" and "the washington times." guest: nancy pelosi is the former house speaker. she has a busy schedule and is making many appearances, talking to delegates and speaking to the press and trying to get the message out. she is putting a lot energy into

trying to help bolster the image of president obama right now. and the image of democrats. it is in her inches for president obama to survive another term. she still has her sights set on sunday regaining control of the house, which is very much in the minority right now for democrats. she is trying to get the message out for how democrats are doing. she was in the convention center yesterday going to interviews and she has another busy schedule today. you'll be hearing a lot from her this week. host: howard on our republican line, you're on with susan ferrechio. caller: good morning. i'm calling from the people's republic of california.

do you understand that takie? guest: if i had to guess what you're saying, you're talking about some of the policies in place in california that the republicans are opposed to. is that what you mean? caller: you are right on the mark. this is a state that is seen cities and towns going into bankruptcy in record numbers. guest: yeah. caller: let me ask you a question. i think the leading -- the leading policy or the leading -- what this election will turn on is the economy. would you agree?

guest: absolutely. people go to polls -- for those who stand outside and interview people at polls, i cannot tell you how many people say they were not sure until they went in and voted. when it comes to economic issues, that can promote a strong gut feeling. the democrats controlled the white house. people are feeling upset about their own situation, their own household budget and mortgages and sky high student loan rates. they will : and say, maybe it is time for a change. when the exit polling is done, the number-one issue voters will

talk about in november is going to be the economy. host: annie, you are on the "washington journal." caller: thank you. i would like to see one of the obama support groups or his campaign come up with a pie chart showing how much of the unemployment rate is really the responsibility of the republican governors in congress. you have republican governors who have used the stimulus money so they could fire the teachers and keep the unemployment rate up. they are not using the stimulus money to rebuild the infrastructure. you have congressmen who would

not pass any kind of a jobs bill to save their souls in order to get this black family out of the white house. i wanted the american people to understand why there is such a high unemployment rate. why is no one addressing that? host: susan ferrechio? guest: here we're talking about the difference between private sector growth and public sector growth. democrats have pushed for many bills. the republicans refuse to support more public sector jobs through building new infrastructure and police and fire department employees, school employees, government service employees. these are real jobs that people need and our children depend on

them and our first responders, we depend on them. we appreciate the public sector but we want to do things in the legislature that would promote private sector growth because we believe private-sector growth is more durable and a better for the economy overall because of public sector jobs are taking money out of the treasury. you guys are paying for these employees and they did not last as long. when you build a road, those jobs tend to be temporary. the two different velocities on how to correct our economic problems right now. there is little agreement on moving forward. you have not seen a lot of action this past year on legislation that is there to promote job growth.

host: the convention kicks off at 5:00 p.m. eastern today. our coverage begins at 4:00 p.m. eastern. the mayor of los angeles will speak along with steny hoyer in the 5:00 p.m. hour. host: anthony foxx will be a guest on this program this morning. these are some of the featured speakers.

host: ted strickland, former governor of ohio. chicago mayor rahm emanuel. deval patrick will also be speaking. susan ferrechio, anybody else jump out at you besides the two finalist we've been talking about all morning? guest: governor all malick is a name that stands out for me. he's the governor of maryland -- governor martin o'malley. he is seen as a rising star in the party.

i'm not surprised they give him a promise speaking role. he is well liked and won pretty handily in all of his elections. i do recall he was a hillary clinton supporter. he was working for her back in the 2008 primary. he is now speaking at the dnc for president obama. he is somebody will hear a lot more from in the year is going forward. host: any tension left between the clinton camp and the obama camp? guest: i think some of that has been resolved. i think that obama and president clinton have made their peace. that was a pretty bitter battle between the clintons and the

obamas. people are marking that hillary clinton will not be at the convention, which is pretty typical for secretaries of state. people are making note of that as perhaps she is not supporting obama. there is talk that maybe she would be running for president four years from now. the clintons are motivated to move themselves forward. that is how they operate. i think the obamas are aware of that. they have not seen what president clinton will have to say. some are a little bit nervous as to what the president will do.

willoughby more of a promoter of president obama or a promoter of president clinton -- will he be more of a promoter of president obama or of president clinton? every day there are mystery speakers. the democratic national committee has decided to not give us a list of speakers going for it. we know who the keynotes are. as for who is speaking every day and in the prime speaking spots, we have no idea because they will withhold that information until the evening before. we do not know who may be coming up. we have word that charlie crist will be speaking. we know he is on the list and senator kerry will be talking on

thursday night, but we don't have a full list. they will keep us waiting. host: a push for betty white in "politico." guest: i heard that yesterday. everybody would love to see betty white. that would add a moment of levity. i don't think that will happen. i suspect democrats got a good look at what happened in tampa and felt as though the appearance by clint eastwood upstaged the main speaker, mitt romney, a little bit. i don't think they want that happening at their convention. host: you can read her articles. thank you for holding.

democrats line. you are on the air. caller: this was a president that was handled a bad economy before he sat down in his seat. the american people have forgotten that this president was handed -- we were losing 800,000 jobs a month. they seem to have forgotten osama bin laden. they have forgotten about many things. this is a president that dealt with the medicare issue. a lot of things went wrong with that, like trying to work to the middle.

he could have saved a lot of other folks. bear with me. i think congress has been the party of no. i have never seen such disrespect for this president. they never wanted to work with him. there are more things that i could -- host: that skin response from susan ferrechio -- let's get a response from susan ferrechio. guest: these are things the democrats will talk about this week. she talked about stopping the level of job loss that america was experiencing in the early days of the obama administration. this is something the democrats will talk about. debbie wasserman schultz has made this case repeatedly.

fewer jobs are being lost now that were being lost before. that's the flip side of an argument that republicans may, that we are not making enough jobs. we are still losing jobs. the democrats are saying it is not as catastrophic as it used to be. things are getting better. foreignt obama's policy the victories during his tenure in office. when he ran in 2008, the weakest part of this campaign platform was his foreign policy experience. that was the biggest risk to his ascent as presidency. here we are nearly a full term later and this is the area where he is perhaps had some of his greatest success. he has brought the troops home from iraq and captured and

killed osama bin laden. he drew heavy praise from republicans and continues to draw praise from republicans. mitt romney acknowledged that in his acceptance speech. americans are focused more on the economy now. that has fall much further down the list when we talk to voters about what matters when they vote. unfortunate, it is not the thing that will win the hearts and minds of these independent voters that are on the fans. host: i understand today is your birthday. guest: yes. i almost forgot. host: i hope doug gowdy

something nice for your birthday. -- got you something nice for your birthday. guest: he is in vermont. he is married to host: dorothy on the independent line. caller: have the birthday. in response to the lady that just called in california, when the campaign was running in 2008, john mccain made the statement that sealed the deal for president obama. he basically one because everybody thought he would do the better job at fixing the economy. since then, you have all of these people on food stamps, 23

million unemployed. it goes on and on. my other statement would be something that i think is really important. although i am a republican and i would never vote for a democrat, the republican party has become -- i do not think they are extreme, but i notice that we have been called racist in the past three or four years. now they are starting to call us taliban an extremist and terrorists. i do not understand that. i think it is something that should be talked about because they are trying to demonize the old republican party for having a difference of opinion. host: what i did -- guest: what i think you are seeing with the republican party is when you look at the elections, first of all in 2010 and prior to that, of course, there was the rise of the tea party, which is a faction of the republican party that is far more conservative

than the middle of the road republican. that has contributed to this reputation that the democrats like to promote, which is the party of extremes. that is a winning argument for the democrats, so i expect it will continue to make it, because it scares off that key faction of independent voters who will help decide this election. i like this candidate, but this party, are they getting too extreme? part of the whole argument that the democrats have been making is this so-called war on women that i am sure you have heard lately. the republicans are accused of being behind the war on women because of their views about whether or not the government should pay for contraception for women and whether or not abortion should be illegal at all stages of pregnancy and our circumstances. you have these social issues that do scare away in of henin

voters. and in particular, they scare away female independent voters. and women outnumber men when it comes to voting. this is a very important constituency the democrats want to hang onto. that is part of the war on within mantra has been used -- war on within mantra has been used so often and so loudly with democrats, and to some success as polls are showing. host: as someone tweet thin, women should be reminded of the supreme court decisions and appointments. last call comes from flint, mich., john on the democrat's line. caller: good morning. from my neighbor in michigan who was just on the line, we have a republican governor named snyder who has tied the unions here, basically, trying to break the unions. and you have the republican

party where i can just said -- akin just said that a woman can be raped. it is a statement like that that the republican party makes, and then they attack the unions cannot -- attack the unions, they attacked the ground routes person just working. they do not want to pay decent wage. they want you to work in a right to work state where they can fire you if they want to. it is amazing that the republican party has a problem. it blows my mind. if you do not make over $250,000 a year or more profit for you to be -- for you to be a republican caucus you are back -- for you to be a republican,

you are writing your own hand. host: 1 issue that is a little less dangerous for republicans is that many are siding with republicans when it comes to the reforms surrounding how the unions are paid and how they contribute to their own pension funds. there is a trend toward more of a republican way of thinking on that just by the electorate. the other issue be brought up, which is todd ak the soni of canadan,, , -- todd akin, the senate candidates, you are absolutely right. he heard the party by making a statement about legitimate trades. there are certain candidates that hurt their chances. at one race that is so crucial -- and one race is so crucial

and accurate their chances of a majority in the senate. the union issues, however, look at what happened in wisconsin this year. there was a big recall election for raw plebeian the -- republican gov. scott walker. and he managed to stay in office. the public sided with him. i think you will see a trend continuing like that, in part because these public-sector unions are draining the treasury of the local governments to the point that they are going bankrupt. there is a little bit of a trend toward republican thinking when it comes to union issues. host: our guest is the chief congressional correspondent for the washington examiner newspaper, washingtonexaminer.com if you like to read your work. thank you for joining us on "washington journal" this morning. we're going to open up the phones.

this is the first day of the democratic national convention. keep dialing in and trading in its, etc. -- tweeting in, it's cetera about 9:30 a.m., they will have pollsters bringing trends. we will bring you that live as well. the mayor of charlotte, anthony foxx will be our guest a little later on. and then the president of the charlotte chamber of commerce will be talking about some issues in the event of having a convention. this is about first ladies giving speeches on behalf of their has been president's in the "washington post" and tonight is michelle obama. she is the clothes are for the obama campaign, and also the closing speech this night.

live gavel-to-gavel coverage beginning at 5:00 p.m. eastern time. we will stay with it until the convention is over for the evening. our preview program begins for the time warner cable are renowned at 4:00 p.m. eastern time. -- the time warner cable arena at the democratic national convention at 4:00 p.m. eastern time. here is a preview of our new special about first ladies. ♪ >> if we turn away from the needs of others, we are aligning ourselves with those forces which are bringing about the suffering. >> one half of the vote is polling and we are to take advantage of it. >> obesity is nothing short of a

public health crisis. >> [unintelligible] when somebody had their own agenda. >> i think they serve as a window on the past to what was going on with american women. >> she becomes the chief confidante. she is really, in a way, the only one in the world he can trust. >> many of the first leaders -- first ladies were writers, journalists, they wrote books. >> she is more interesting as a human being that her husband, if only because she is not first and foremost to find and consequently limited by political ambition. >> dolly was politically adept and savvy. >> and dolly madison loved every minute of it. mrs. monroe absolutely hated it. >> you cannot include her

husband without including what women want and what they contribute. >> there was too much looking darren and i think it was a little too fast. not enough change of pace. >> probably the most tragic of all of our first ladies. they never shared a bed. >> she later wrote in her memoir that she said i myself never made in decision. i only decided what was important and when to present it to my husband. you stop and think about how much power that is, it is a lot of power. >> part of the battle against cancer is to fight the fear that accompanies the disease. >> she transformed the way we look at been -- of these bugaboos and made it possible

for countless people to survive and flourish as a result. i do not know how many presidents realistically have that kind of impact on the way we live our lives. >> just walking around the white house grounds, i am constantly reminded about all the people will have lived there before, and particularly kamal of the women. -- first ladies, influence and image, and produced in cooperation with the white house historical association, coming in 2013. host: and live pictures inside the time warner cable arena in charlotte. the democratic national convention kicks off live there at 5:00 p.m. eastern. we will have gavel-to-gavel

coverage. this is our review program -- and our preview program begins at 4:00 p.m. will be speaking with some delegates at 4:00 p.m. right now, we have a chance to hear from you. the democratic national convention begins today. you can see the numbers on the screen. and you can contact us through e-mail and twitter. you can start dialing in and we in and e-mail in in. we will begin with a call from new bremen, ohio, cindy on the republican out -- republican line. caller: good morning. i've got to wonder about -- you know, the democrats are so talking about raising taxes on people making $250,000 and up.

when barack obama won his presidency, it took him forever to appoint a cabinet because every democrat he was looking at, they found our he was not paying his taxes. i did not know why they are so enthused about raising taxes when they are not beginning -- paying them to begin with. host: where is new bremen, ohio? caller: near the middle of the state. host: near columbus? caller: more west of columbus. host: are you seeing a lot of political commercials in ohio in your part of the state? caller: not too many, no. host: have you been to a rally for any of the candidates or have any of the candidates come to your town? caller: no. host: dayton, ohio, next caller,

have you seen any political eyes? -- political advertisements? caller: yes, i have not seen them, but they've been here. host: what do you think about that? caller: i do not think it makes a difference. all our businesses are closing down. we were the big thing for gm europe and so many lost their jobs, and now our paper mills -- for gm here and so many lost their jobs, now tarpaper mills are shutting down. the main thing i wanted to talk about is the health care, medicare. i recently had a heart catheter. i got a bill from the hospital for $32,000 for one hard cast -- heart catheter. it -- heart cath.

host: here is a tweet -- an article from politico. also from a blog, the five powerhouses states.

and finally, maryland? a solid punch. -- maryland packs a solid punch. ocean city, md., melvin, a democrat, good morning to you. the democratic national convention begins today. what are your thoughts? caller: a couple of thoughts. number one, i would like to

address something that your last speaker indicated about the republicans refusing to raise revenue, but the democrats now willing to make spending cuts, which is definitely false because the military and all of the cuts to the military, and in addition, federal employees have made made -- taken major hits. but then again, should also mention about jobs, about the infrastructure, whatever, that they were going to basically be public-sector jobs. though javed -- those jobs are set out to the private sector. all of those people doing the highways and what not, those are big on by the private sector, and the same way that the majority of the jobs for boeing

our government jobs for the military. and one other thing, being a long time c-span watcher, it seems like i've seen a difference between this democratic convention as opposed to the republican. they've had a lot more [unintelligible] the lady you had on earlier, she works for a paper and her husband works for fox. she had a lot of viewpoints [unintelligible] and they have not cut spending. host: that was melvin in ocean city, melt -- maryland. the next call comes from

crawford, md., then ,ben. caller: i would like to make a comment about president bush. but first, everybody has the attitude of divide and copper. -- divide and conquer. back to the debt. from what i can gather, the u.s. federal government brings in between two trillion dollars at and $2.50 trillion per year. bush spent it all. and with katrina, he racked up $2 trillion in debt. i'm a republican and i'm not happy about it at all. obama has racked up about a $5 trillion in debt in one term. he raised the amount of revenue that each government agency was

getting through the roof, and then after he raised it, he said, i will stop it and freezing here for the next 10 years. he already raised it. host: let's let your comments stand right there and we will move to our independent line. portland, maine, kevin. good morning. caller: good morning. i have to comment early quickly about the fact during the rnc convention -- i live here in maine and to see how the other candidates were not touted for ron paul toward some nomination during the convention. it is glaringly obvious to see how the establishment before the republican party wants to take

advantage of the fact that there is still a part of the republican party that sides with other things. i saw a truly independent thinking -- thinker in regards to the political scheme of things. i was disappointed and shocked, quite frankly, that the republican party, especially in a time of unity for the convention that they would go ahead and do that. am i surprised? i am not surprised, but i'm surely disappointed that they could not allow those 10 delegates to be counted fairly and equally. host: from the boston herald this morning is this headline, "democratic chair apologizes for calling scott brown a girl."

he "tweeting brown at a massachusetts convention when he said at this statement." the much anticipated memoir of a navy seal who helped kill osama bin laden helphits the shelves today. preeg orders have put it at #one on the best-seller list at

amazon for two weeks. but there's one group that may now be eager to see the release of the book, the pentagon. last week, the pentagon general counsel threatened legal action against a former navy seal who wrote the revealing book. in a letter addressed to the pen name of the book's author, -- that book will be on the shelves today. this is from politico this morning. four years ago, president obama promised to drain the swamp.

that is from politico this morning. back to your calls as the democratic national convention kicks off. salem, mass., john on the democrat's line. about: i'm not confused this. i love obama. he is just a great guy. the is for the people. but what i'm trying to understand is as far as pro-

life end of that, i think a woman has the right to choose. on the other end of the perspective, why are they trying to pull the rug out from the older people? don't they want them to live, too? don't they have a right to live? also, mitt romney has five striping funds -- a five strapping sons. i just heard another come out and say that four of them have just joined the military. why haven't any of mitt romney's sons join the military? as far as i'm concerned, they have $20 million trust funds. they have 18 grandchildren that will be very well taken care of in the future, no matter whether he becomes president or not. you had jeff bridges coming on this morning talking about feeding hundred kids. -- hungry kids.

where is the humanity and a love as far as kids starving? he has five sons. the white house and one of them join the military? one of them could be a kernel right now. host: that was john in massachusetts. as we show you live pictures of the floor of the time-warner cable arena in uptown that they describe as downtown. we learned that yesterday morning. our next caller, clinton. caller: i love c-span. and i wish we could go back to the old form of journalism where they could be looked at and you could say, ok, these are the facts. and a case in point, akin made a

bad statement and he was totally wrong, and he apologized. at the same time, i do not understand why the facts are not brought up that when president obama was senator in illinois, he argued for infanticide. in other words, the mother wanted an abortion, the abortion failed, and he argued that even though the abortion failed, another doctor needed to be called in to carry out the function at the request of the mother. that is all argue from the floor. i do not understand why that is not brought up from journalists and reputable organizations. this is a fact. host: and that was clinton in oxley, alabama. i think it is tomorrow night, the president of narow will be speaking at the democratic national convention. in just a few minutes, the

washington journal will be sponsoring a forum. there will be a format -- every morning at the democratic national convention. this is about pollsters this morning. the keynote speech will be given by told bennington with the bennington strategy group. along with margie o'mara and john and alone, all pollsters. after the cyber security bill, obama ways other options.

that is a statement by j. carney, the white house press secretary. atlanta on the independent line. you are on the "washington journal." please go ahead. caller: my comment is that i have watched the republican -- host: we're going to put you on hold. you've got to turn down the volume. just listen through your telephone. there is a little bit of a delay. fort walton beach, gary, on our independent line. please go ahead, gary. caller: what i want to know about is obamacare that they are

talking about, the medicare plan, how much of that is going to involve people's personal lives? i mean, how much personal information will the government be allowed to retain, you know, people's personal accounts? how much is that going to allow the government to get into people's bank accounts? are they going to allow that to happen? host: why do you ask that question, gary? caller: right now, i have health care, my own. and if obamacare comes in, will the bother my personal health care? host: that is gary's question from fort walton beach this morning. let's return to georgia and lana. are you with us? caller: yes, i am. host: please go ahead with your

comment. caller: i watched in republican convention last week and i will do the democrats this week. i watch president obama with his speeches and he is always talking about affordable college education funds for our students. my question is, where's the money going to come from? to me, i'm concerned that our country is broke. where is this money coming from. host: where are you in georgia? caller: about 16 or 17 miles from atlanta. host: who did you vote for in 2008? caller: i have turned independent after jimmy carter because i realize is -- it is not about party, but about the country. by emily more independent. i watched both parties and i go for their -- from there.

host: which party are you leaning toward in 2012? caller: i am leaning toward the republicans because i'm concerned about the country's debt. i do not know if we can pull ourselves out of the debt. host: from the hill this morning, they just released this at 5:00 a.m., voters say the country is worse off. the majority of voters believe the country is worse off than it was four years ago when the president obama does not deserve reelection, according to a new poll for deal newspaper. and again, this was just

released this morning on thehill.com website. the convention is just beginning as we continue our live coverage. >> we have a terrific group of underwriters supporting house this week and are like to recognize them and thank them. the american federation of teachers, the credit unit association, the united technologies corp., volkswagen, and vote for energy. it takes a lot to put on these programs, so we're very appreciative of our underwriters. each morning, we live a different topic related to the election, and this election today is a conversation with leading pollsters. you'll hear from joe benson, president of the bentsen strategy group, the president of lake research partners, the founder of momentum analysis

llc, and the partner antimony list research. we are being joined online at national journal and the atlantic, both online, and we have c-span covering this morning as well. if we have anyone here would like to join the conversation or pose questions about please do so on twitter using # dailybriefing. will begin our program with a an interview with droll beninson. he served as a strategic analyst and adviser many political leaders, business leaders, and charitable advocacy

organizations. he was a lead strategist for barack obama during the 2008 collection. he continues in that role today. i will turn things over to ron and droll. >> thank you very much. joel will be here in just a moment. can everybody hear me out there? this way, he does not have to talk about an fourth. you can sit next to him. joe, thank you for coming. it >> happen to be here. >> i will start with a follow-up conversation we had last week in tampa with ron kaufman and where were we talked about race in politics. it made a little bit of news. this is something that you and i have talked about a lot over the years and we have agreed to disagree. do you think that the president's race is a factor in this election? >> we did talk about this and we

talked a lot about it in 2008. i think president obama, when he was running in 2008 said, i will not win this election because i'm african-american and i will not lose this election because i'm african-american. i believe that was true then and it is true today. the american people are a diverse population. there's a lot going on in this country and in this world that they are concerned about right now. this election is about big things in their lives. he has been the president for four years. he has done great things as president. we will win this election based on the merits, based on who he is, based on what he is doing for average working americans, working for middle-class people and trying to reclaim a sense of security. that is what they will vote on, the quality of their lives. which one of these two guys will make life better over the next four years? who is going to be fighting for me? the circumstances have been pretty tough for these folks for about a decade.

>> are you saying that african- american voters would not vote for him based on race, but just for democrat? >> i think there are party-line voters in each party. people who consider themselves strong democrats do not split their tickets. people who are strong republican do not split their tickets. the fact that people identify a growing number of independent voters, self identifying independent voters, one of the dynamics that you have is people who are independent voters who lean democrat, those who lean republican, and a thin slice who i would call true independent voters. i think african-americans, they have been takeover -- they have been a core democratic voting bloc, but not everyone gets the same boat. >> the folks inside the romney campaign said last week that they will be -- the welfare

reform campaign was intended to move white voters who might vote for bombing to the romney campaign, and they believe that they have. -- to vote for obama to the romney campaign, and they believe that they have. >> they also said they would get a big bounce out of their convention, which they did not have. they have repeatedly gone to the press with various points of bluster about what is happening in their campaign. the fundamental fact is still the same. if what we have is an election where people are looking at president obama, with a believe is fighting for them every day, no is building an economy that will restore the middle class -- who is building an economy that will restore the middle-class, verses and those who not only crashed the economy, but the middle class recognizes has been punishing them for a decade.

>> so is the campaign moving voters away from obama or not? >> no. >> it is not moving voters, why did you guys have such a quick and powerful response with bill clinton? >> we have had a quick and powerful response to the multimillion-dollar negative attack that they have been waging with the super pacs for months. we started in june responding to attack ads. this is not new. we will not let their tax go unanswered. there has been a lot of talk about negativity in the campaign all around. this has been a 14-month constant drumbeat of an attack from the republican party on president obama. if you go back and watch their debates through the are the cover republican primary season, every person on that stage spent

their time campaigning by attacking this president. their strategy from day one has been to run a massively negative campaign. we are not surprised when they go on the air with negative ads. they have come out and said they do not really care about the facts. it is hard to give them any shred of credibility when that is what they are saying. we're just going to do what we do as a campaign and respond when we need to and drive our message going forward. >> although it does not have a lot to do with polling, your campaign has also indulged in- advertising and some people will have stretched the truth, such as the statements made varon a's position on abortion. >> romney has said that he wants to overturn roe vs. wade. that is the law that gives the

woman the right to choice. and the right to make decisions about their own bodies and their own health care. he said that. i did not. that advertisement is accurate. >> not in the sense that he opposes abortion in terms of saving the life of the mother. >> if you overturn roe vs. wade, you overturn roe vs. wade. if you want to overturn the law of the land, that is what you are overturning. >> you can dance around that, but if you believe in something different, you ought to say very clearly what law you would put in place. he has not done that. >> you think it would make a difference whether energizing is true or false, as a new house suggested? -- whether advertising is true or false, as do house has suggested? >> there are a couple of things in this election -- you know, i think we will look back on a thing that we have not

experienced before, which is an unprecedented amount of money being spent in total to try to persuade a very small slice of the electorate. the dollar per wrote that is in play is quite disproportionate. -- the dollar per vote that is in play is quite disproportionate. we do not know how they are ignoring it. i think there's a lot of tuning out going on. i give voters a lot of credit. i think people are pretty good at sifting through ads. i think they react more adversely to negative advertisement than they had previously. they want more facts. they want more authenticity. maybe that is why so many people are spending so much money out there. but whether or not all of it will cut through remains to be seen. >> a couple of sets of numbers.

one bad -- the that governor romney is ahead of president clinton on the ability to fix the zero -- the economy. >> i think you mean president obama. >> i'm talking about the speech. >> talking about taking us back to the past. >> and governor romney leaves on issues like cares for me, will fight for me. is that set of arguments an economic argument that we are missing? when people say he fights like me, can that be seen as someone who can fix the economy? >> when you ask people and do ask for attribute ratings and to use words like "understands the economy." i think that the notes some knowledge of academic principles. people would say economists understand the economy.

that is what they do for a living. there is an element of economics in that question, no doubt. that is certainly clear. and governor romney, because he is a businessman gets some credit for it. but it is not a total past because it is a double-edged sword. the attributes that you are talking about, understanding the struggles of people like me, will fight for the middle class or average working americans, they are very much rooted in the economics of the day. people call them and with the attributes, or character attributes. they're putting them in the wrong box. if you are an american who is part of the middle-class or working-class, you need to know who is going to be fighting for me day in and day out. who will be the person who will be standing up for me when tough times, or corporations want to shift jobs overseas? who will stand up to get rid of those tax breaks to shift jobs

overseas and keep my job here? who is going to let them go? those kinds of decisions are part of why people think you are fighting for them, why they think he will fight for them every day. it has a great deal to do with economics. it gets put in boxes to neely. obama is strong on character issues and romney is strong on the economy. i think obama is much stronger on the economy. when you ask that question like many poles to do, we have an almost double digit lead over who people think will fight for the middle class in america today. if there is a more central question as to how low will create an economy for working people at it -- and an economy that will be durable, i do not know that they know what that is. president obama has not laid out a second term agenda concretely. what is in his agenda?

will we hear it on thursday? >> to say that he has not laid out an agenda for the second term, as the way you phrase the question, let's not forget that a year ago almost to the day, the president laid out an extensive plan that could create at 1 million jobs in america today, and could have immediately a year ago. the 20 introduce his jobs plan that had seven points to it, we passed the payroll tax, and republicans have sat on their hands. they will not even put them out for a vote. they will vote for repeal of obamacare 22 times, but they will not put jobs of for a vote. we still need to do and can do things to put people working on things that we need for our economy going forward. our roads, bridges, schools. nothing is more important than

being able to educate our kids. your business leaders talking about this last night. microsoft saying they have 6000 jobs they can fill, but we do not have kids educated to fill those jobs in america right now. that is incredibly vital. we need to modernize our schools so that kids can have the training they need to get those jobs. president obama will be speaking thursday night. he has been going around the country to talk about things he wants to do. he will be laying out the plan more as we head toward thursday night and deliver that for the country going forward. the plan has been clear, and he has laid out where we have been meeting to vote with our efforts. and he has a plan that is balanced to bring down our deficit in a balanced way, that with a certain amount of revenue on the table, a much smaller percentage of cuts. he asks millionaires to pay

little more to pay down the deficit. he has also talked about the need to make cuts in waste and spending. we need technology in schools and training and retraining of workers that can go to committee colleges and partner with businesses in their committees for the training that those workers need. you can put 2 million people through those training programs and get them to work through that program. that is part of what the president has put on the table as well. >> what does your work show about a would-be purse wadable -- who the persuadables are? parts we said from the beginning that this was going to be a -- >> we said from the beginning that this was going to be competitive election. in 2008, president obama was only the fourth president in history to get 53% of the vote.

president bush got to 53%. president obama got to 53%. and the only other one was george of the abortion 2004, and he barely got that. -- george w. bush in 2004 and he barely got there. it is a smaller percentage of the electorate, is smaller and smaller green. those who are truly undecided today, we are probably barely breaking double digits, if that. we're probably in the high single digits right now if you look at soft obama of voters and soft romney voters. you are probably at 8-to 10%. >> -- 8-10%. >> neil newhouse has a different

view. gregg's are looking at -- are looking at white women with college degrees? >> white suburban women have always been an important part of presidential elections in this century. >> are they the undecided voters? >> i think a lot of this race is already locked in. that is why we are looking at nine weeks out, even going into the republican convention, this portion of undecided voters has not really changed from the start of the republican convention. you are seeing right -- younger voters getting galvanized. more of them are registering to vote. more of them are porges of trading in the campaign again

and -- more of them are volunteering in the campaign again. i think we have work to do to turn out our core voters, young voters, african-americans orders, latino voters. but white suburban voters, i think we did very well -- by the way, the end of the campaign that lasted, the voters that we were chasing down were white independent rural voters, women in particular. i think there are some groups that you traditionally seek, but we have a few others that we believe our in our zone right now. >> here is the soft ball. did you try to measure mitt romney's khost? >> there are so many wonderful everyc polls coming out o

hour, that you just sit back and watch. the answer to this is that no one is seeing any kind of balance. no one saw any bounce from paul reihan getting put on the ticket. number one, their convention had gaps in it from a message perspective, and some inconsistent views from day to day and speaker to speaker. i do not think they created a real threat about what they wanted to do, other than the drumbeat of, as the consistent thing. -- drumbeat of obama as a consistent thing. i do not think that helps them. but there are other structural factors that are minimizing the bounce that you get from these things occurred when john kennedy was nominated for president, i think it was around july 15, 1960. even when bill clinton had his

convention, i think it was july 20. we are past the traditional base of the convention and then you gathered steam. here we are a few days past labor day and we have not had the official renomination of president obama. the later you push them and with more money being spent up front, i think you will continue to see bonds minimized, if only because of the schedule -- bumps minimize, if only because of the schedule. >> given everything you are saying, with the various lull on the investment return that we have with the party's demise of the last time that we will see three or four day conventions? >> we have had four-day conventions for a long time. we went to a three day convention now because of the

unfortunate hurricane that hit tampa. they had to shrink their convention. and i think you found that you could get everything into three days. and you may see that. the specially later in the campaign, you want to be out campaigning with real people. if you can do the business of your party more efficiently and go back out and talk to americans who want to hear from you, then you ought to do that. >> do you think you will see a shorter central one and then more grassroots conventions? what i think there was discussion about that early on and then it was shelved. >> do we have any questions? one right there. bring a microphone around to anyone who wants to ask a question. >> i have a public-school teacher in new york city. -- i am a public schoolteacher in york city. i teach advanced placement u.s. government.

my question is to you. sasha eisenberg wrote an op-ed in the need -- in the "new york times" if you days ago and he pointed out that 10% of the electorate is up for grabs. each campaign has their own way of getting out that 10%. his thesis was that the media is far behind where the campaigns are, and the campaigns have become more sophisticated in terms of polling, and the media has not been able to keep up with it. i was wondering if you could say a few words. >> i do not know if any of you saw the article, but he was not just saying it was on the polling site. his article was about the technology of campaigns becoming more advanced -- in general and the campaigns incorporating that technology to their advantage

for legitimate campaign purposes. all of us are doing it. the media covers these things once every four years or every six years. in between the four years, we spend our time maximizing what we can use to communicate with voters. someone asked me last night if there are his 65 million democratic voters with the improvement ability to update your order list, how many of them can you have a one-on-one conversation with? it is probably not universal, but getting close to that very fast. there are a lot of ways that voters are being talked to on a personal level, which i think is probably good for the process, but it is very hard to keep up with that if you are not making investments and keeping up with the kind of data that you would use. those are big investments.

it is more than just doing a poll once a month. a lot of that work is doing database modeling and going back and setting up models on those polls. it is not just about media polling. and what sasha did not quote me on -- there were two ends of the spectrum. and he quoted me fairly when i said technology is advancing, but there is also increasing pressure on journalists. i was a daily reporter for many years. but there is an increasing pressure on journalists to get out there within the next hour with what ever you have, instead of trying to think it through and get to the better place of trying to inform your readers. the web is a great blessing for the way we can dispense information, but it is putting pressure on political reporters in a way where you put that out there even if you want to do a

longer think peace, the news is changing so rapidly. your editor is saying combined you want to go deeper into debt, but this paper has this story and this paper has that story, go chase that. they are under pressure to be more immediate. in conversations i've had with every journalist i know, they understand that question and i think most of them do a fantastic job of working through it. we've got to have a strong media. and we need the media to hold any of us accountable when our advertisements are not telling the truth. there are things people need. we need honest brokers in the conversation. that could be a way for the media to counter some of the daily pressures, to figure out how to establish your bottom fees -- establish your bonafide again.

>> i worked with matthew dowd the bush campaign, and i understood on a deep level what they did to talk to their voters. that has moved past me. i would have to do it again because things are moving so quickly. >> i will try to be shorter answers so we can get more questions. >> i'm with the australian financial review. i'm interested in the disparity between the two candidates support levels. is it anomalous? do you see it changing as the younger generation comes along? obama has a 10% advantage among women. romney has a 10% to 12% advantage among men. >>